Homelessness

With Homeless Population at All-Time High, Public Advocate Calls for Citywide Shelter Plan

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A bill introduced in the City Council this week would create a 15-member commission that includes people who have experienced homelessness to study current shelter locations, identify new sites and figure out how to pay for them. “Homeless New Yorkers come from every neighborhood in New York City and accordingly we need to equitably site shelters,” the bill’s sponsor said.

A Family Affair: Parents, Children and NYC's Homelessness Crisis

VIDEO: Homeless Families Are Waiting Longer in NYC Shelters. Here Are Their Stories

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Dirty bath water and a slew of apartment rejections test the faith of three single moms trying to get out of the city’s homeless shelter system. After 14 months, Johanna Garcia finally found an apartment for her and her children—but the journey wasn’t easy, and the average length of stay in shelter for families like hers is only getting longer, new data shows.

A Family Affair: Parents, Children and NYC's Homelessness Crisis

NYC Considers Summer Camps to House Homeless Migrants 

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Strained for shelter space, the Adams administration confirmed it was exploring the possibility of using camp facilities “should they become necessary,” to house asylum seekers arriving from the Southern border. The city has relied on commercial hotels and other stopgap facilities to quickly add shelter capacity for decades, but camps would be a new sort of accommodation for families.

Housing and Homelessness
NYC Mayor Eric Adams talking into a microphone at a press conference podium

Mayor’s Emergency Declaration Will Speed Shelter Openings as Homeless Population Rises 

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The declaration will allow the city to open a new intake facility specifically for asylum-seekers and immigrants who have made their way to city shelters. It will also allow the Department of Homeless Services to issue contracts to nonprofits to open additional shelters, most likely in hotels, while bypassing public review and the usual competitive bidding process.